I heard that BMW considers these fluids "lifetime," which seems to be utter BS to me. From the service records on my car, it appears they have never been done, and the car is at 62,000 miles now. Should I have these done at an indy shop if the dealer doesn't do it as part of the regular maintenance? I want to keep this car for a long time, and I'm concerned about its longevity without these fluids getting changed. Is there anything to worry about by doing it?

Mike Miller Reccomends coolant every 2 years, manual gearbox diff and Power Steering at 30,000, Auto box at 15,000-60,000.

E-mail Mike Miller at techtalk@roundel.org and ask him for his alternative maintenance schedule. Let him know the specifics of your car and he'll tell you where in the document to keep an eye on stuff.

And yea go to an indy shop. My Dealership wanted over $500 to change just the transmission and Diff fluid. Come to think of it I still need to actually get this done.......

Btw... about BMW's lifetime fluids... BWM says lifetime... but like for the Automatic... the people who make it (ZF) for BMW... say to change the A/T trans fluid every 45K miles! So much for lifetime fluids!

I've changed my manual trans and diff fluids. Twice actually! I plan on doing it again soon. Fresh oil is the best oil! I was shocked at how dirty the old fluid was.

For my manual trans I am running Redline's D4-ATF... at first I used BMW's fluid... but the trans was still rough/hard to shift cold. Once I switched to D4-ATF, the trans shifts like butter now. You will need something to suck out the old diff fluid - since BMW did not give us a drain plug on the diff. There is only a "fill hole" go figure!

I have not seen anyone post a "changing coolant DIY". I would love to see one! Everyone says change it every two years... but I suspect no one has change it yet. And we are going on four years now. I know the longer the coolant is inside of your motor... the higher the acidity level gets - and it starts to eat your engine from the inside out. This is how head gaskets fail. You can test the Ph level of your coolant with test strips or a light spectrum-graph/tool.

Brake fluid should be changed every two years in the states. BMW says every year over here in DE.

I've never owned a car where I have changed the PS steering fluid. IF I were to change it... I would buy a NEW PS res - bc the filter is built into its base. You bleed the system by turning the steering wheel(when the car is running) from LOCK to LOCK. Try not to let the res run dry. Again you will need some kind of tool to suck out the old PS fluid.

Btw... about BMW's lifetime fluids... BWM says lifetime... but like for the Automatic... the people who make it (ZF) for BMW... say to change the A/T trans fluid every 45K miles! So much for lifetime fluids!

I've changed my manual trans and diff fluids. Twice actually! I plan on doing it again soon. Fresh oil is the best oil! I was shocked at how dirty the old fluid was.

For my manual trans I am running Redline's D4-ATF... at first I used BMW's fluid... but the trans was still rough/hard to shift cold. Once I switched to D4-ATF, the trans shifts like butter now. You will need something to suck out the old diff fluid - since BMW did not give us a drain plug on the diff. There is only a "fill hole" go figure!

I have not seen anyone post a "changing coolant DIY". I would love to see one! Everyone says change it every two years... but I suspect no one has change it yet. And we are going on four years now. I know the longer the coolant is inside of your motor... the higher the acidity level gets - and it starts to eat your engine from the inside out. This is how head gaskets fail. You can test the Ph level of your coolant with test strips or a light spectrum-graph/tool.

Brake fluid should be changed every two years in the states. BMW says every year over here in DE.

I've never owned a car where I have changed the PS steering fluid. IF I were to change it... I would buy a NEW PS res - bc the filter is built into its base. You bleed the system by turning the steering wheel(when the car is running) from LOCK to LOCK. Try not to let the res run dry. Again you will need some kind of tool to suck out the old PS fluid.

Mine got changed when my turbos went out they didn't install the coolant housing properly and it leaked everywhere, so I had to limp it to the dealership.
Since my last oil change was done early this year, I will try to change out as many fluids as I can between December and January. Oil change, diff fluid change, any others? Is a PS fluid change necessary?

Mine got changed when my turbos went out they didn't install the coolant housing properly and it leaked everywhere, so I had to limp it to the dealership.
Since my last oil change was done early this year, I will try to change out as many fluids as I can between December and January. Oil change, diff fluid change, any others? Is a PS fluid change necessary?

And of course brake fluid should be changed. In the US every two years. Over here in Germany every year. At least according to BMW.

As for PS fluid... IF I were to change it(it would be at the bottom of my fluid changing List)... I would also buy a new PS reservoir, since the filter is built into the base of the res. I would also use new screw clamps bc the OE ones tends not to seal well, when re-suing them on the old rubber hoses. You will need to bleed the PS system by rotating the rack full lock to lock a few times to get all the air out of the lines. Then recheck the res for fluid.

And of course brake fluid should be changed. In the US every two years. Over here in Germany every year. At least according to BMW.

As for PS fluid... IF I were to change it(it would be at the bottom of my fluid changing List)... I would also buy a new PS reservoir, since the filter is built into the base of the res. I would also use new screw clamps bc the OE ones tends not to seal well, when re-suing them on the old rubber hoses. You will need to bleed the PS system by rotating the rack full lock to lock a few times to get all the air out of the lines. Then recheck the res for fluid.

Thanks! Now to look around for where to buy all that for a decent price haha.
Off-topic: has anyone confirmed that the 1M(M3) diff is a bolt on replacement for the 135i diff? If so, and I were to run it, would my offsets change?

Thanks! Now to look around for where to buy all that for a decent price haha.
Off-topic: has anyone confirmed that the 1M(M3) diff is a bolt on replacement for the 135i diff? If so, and I were to run it, would my offsets change?

To swap you would need: 1M drive shaft, M output shafts, and the M diff. I looked into it and decided not to do it because I have the older man. trans. ... Would've needed to cut a rebalance the drive shaft. Went w/ a bolted pumpkin from an e9x and a Wavetrac. Couldn't be happier.

To swap you would need: 1M drive shaft, M output shafts, and the M diff. I looked into it and decided not to do it because I have the older man. trans. ... Would've needed to cut a rebalance the drive shaft. Went w/ a bolted pumpkin from an e9x and a Wavetrac. Couldn't be happier.